In Seattle, Senator Murray Visits Daybreak Star & Meets with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Affirms Strong Support for Tribal Communities

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Seattle, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Daybreak Star cultural center in Seattle and met with the leadership and staff of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation to hear more about how the foundation is leveraging various federal funding streams to support its work on behalf of the community.

"It was great to visit the Daybreak Star center and hear about the incredible work happening to support Native people in King County and across Washington state," said Senator Murray. "As Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I will always fight to make sure the federal government is honoring its commitments to our Tribes and supporting Tribal communities with real, tangible investments. Whether it's health care, workforce training, or housing, I will always make certain that Washington state's Tribal communities have a seat at the table when we decide how to invest federal dollars."

United Indians of All Tribes is currently implementing two federal grants: $5 million over six years from the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, which supports the health of Native families with young children and pregnant women; and $2 million awarded last fall for their Native workforce services program from the Department of Labor's Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant. Both grant programs are strongly supported by Senator Murray as she negotiates and authors the nation's government spending bills.

Murray has been a strong advocate for Tribes in the United States Senate. As Appropriations Chair, Murray protected funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) despite tough budget caps and fought for-a $61.4 million increase in Fiscal Year 2024 to ensure IHS can hire more providers to meet increased patient demand. Importantly, Murray secured advance appropriations for IHS for the upcoming fiscal year to provide more certainty and limit disruptions so the agency can better plan and provide continuity of care for Tribes. Murray has been a strong advocate of the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program. The IHBG is the largest source of federal resources for housing for Tribal communities-providing flexible funding for the construction for new affordable housing, rental assistance, housing improvements and rehabilitation, and other supportive housing-related services. Murray has fought to increase funding for the IHBG program every year, and in Fiscal Year 2024, as Appropriations Chair, she was able to secure a record $1.111 billion for the program-a $324 million increase over Fiscal Year 2023-in the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development spending bill signed into law in March of 2023. Across government spending, Murray has always fought to prioritize the needs of Washington state Tribal communities.

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